Scientific Publication

Uganda

author(s) Benin, Sam - Thurlow, James - Diao, Xinshen - Kebba, Allen - Ofwono, Nelson
from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
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themes
regions
  • Eastern Africa
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Africa
  • World
citation

Benin, Sam et al., 'Uganda', In Strategies and priorities for African agriculture: Economywide perspectives from country studies, ed. Xinshen Diao, James Thurlow, Samuel Benin, and Shenggen Fan. Chapter 10. Pg. 281-316, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, D.C., 2012

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Abstract

Uganda is often heralded as an African success story. The country re-established
political stability after the civil wars following Idi Amin’s overthrow and
subsequently experienced strong economic growth during the 1990s. Gross
domestic product (GDP) grew rapidly at almost 4 percent annually in per capita
terms during 1993–2000 (Uganda, BOS 2008a). At least part of this rapid growth
was due to a program of economic reforms, although the implications of these
reforms were not universally positive (see, for example, Dijkstra and Van Donge
2001). Economic growth during the 1990s was also broadly based, with per capita
agricultural GDP rising by about 1.5 percent per year, driven by both food and
traditional export crops. Economywide growth greatly reduced poverty in both rural
and urban areas (Uganda, BOS 2008b). Moreover, poverty rates fell fast enough to
offset high population growth, and by 2000 there were almost three million fewer
people living below the poverty line than in 1993. Agricultural growth thus played a
key role during Uganda’s successful recovery period by fostering broad-based growth
and poverty reduction (Kappel, Lay, and Steiner 2005).

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